Bookholders are well-known in the art for supporting a book, magazine, or the like in an open position and holding the pages in place to reduce fatigue on the reader or to permit other activity while reading. In order to be useful, such bookholders permit the pages to be individually turned and held in place temporarily until the reader desires to turn an additional page. Bookholders must also be able to accommodate a variety of shapes, sizes, and thicknesses of books, magazines, or the like. Hence, adjustability and flexibility of a bookholder is a desirable attribute.
A bookholder having a base, a backwall, and a ledge for supporting a bottom of an open book is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,595,682 to Lipa. Lipa provides pivotable fingers on the ledge for holding the pages open. The Lipa bookholder is useful for holding the pages so that they can be read in a horizontal position. However, if the reader desires to read while reclining on his side in bed, the Lipa bookholder would not be satisfactory.
U.S. Pat. No. 236,685 issued to Massey on Jan. 18, 1881 discloses a book rest for holding the covers of a book and rotating it through various angles, but it requires a tripod stand, and is unsuitable for reading in bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,938,528 issued Dec. 5, 1933 to Marseglia describes an adjustable bookholder intended for a reader reclining in bed, comprising a frame work of wire members, which holds an open book on its side. An inclined wire frame supports one side of the book and includes adjustable legs. A pivotable arm holds the other side of the book in an open position so that the lines of print run in a vertical direction. While this bookholder may be suitable for reading when the reader is lying fully in a horizontal position so that the eyes may sweep in a vertical direction, it is unsuitable for reading when the reader is reclined or propped up in bed at some selected angle other than horizontal. Also illumination of the pages for night reading would be desirable so as not to disturb other people. Preferably, also, a bookholder for reading in bed should be a design which provides a pleasing appearance suitable for display and which has other uses.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved bookholder for reclined reading.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved bookholder for reading at night.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an attractive and useful bookholder for a bedroom and for reading in bed.